NEOMFA Festival read thru

Reading my script one more time before the NEOMFA Festival read thru together this afternoon. I've seen lots of great names on the emails that are flying around and I am so happy I get to play and learn from these very talented folks!  Also a bit nervous, aint gonna lie!

Creating an Original Character

I am very excited that I have been cast in one of the NEOMFA Playwrights Festival One Acts!  I want to start acting more and while I think I will always do some design work, acting right now for me is where I want to immerse myself.  I have been doing more and more Voice Over work and have been hoping some stage roles would present themselves.

I read on Facebook a post by a fellow actor also cast in one of the shows and he mentioned the delight of creating a new character. HOLY CRAP! These pieces have never been produced before.  This will be the first time anyone sees my "Carol". That is a lot of pressure!  And excitement and intrigue!  I love character study and so this should be right up my alley.  It will be challenging and rewarding to create the "live" version of a person the playwright has had in their head and now on the page.

And so, I look forward to discovering with my fellow cast mates, the characters and their stories as we think they want to be represented.

--

Lisa L. Wiley


"Got Something To Say? Let Me Do The Talking!"
Voice Over Artist
Cleveland, Ohio
419-366-3734
www.lisalwiley.com

Performing in Dye Jung part of the NEOMFA PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL
at Convergence Continuum FEB 7-16 Thurs.-Sat.
visit www.convergence-continuum.org for more info or (216) 687-007

Kid Simple!

THERE ARE JUST TWO MORE WEEKENDS LEFT TO EXPERIENCE "DELIGHTFUL, INVENTIVE SURREAL COMEDY" KID SIMPLE, NOW ON STAGE AT CONVERGENCE-CONTINUUM

"delightful, inventive"..."surreal comedy"..."fast-paced and buoyant"...
"it defies succinct description, so you'll just have to see it for yourself"  (Andrea Simakis, Plain Dealer)

Full review at: http://www.cleveland.com/onstage/index.ssf/2012/10/convergence-continuums_kid_sim.html

Moll, a girl who invents things, wins the science fair with a machine for
hearing sounds that can't be heard. But when a sexy shape-shifting Mercenary
steals the invention (and her heart), she must embark on a quest to save
noise as we know it.  Accompanied by the last boy-virgin in the eleventh
grade, Moll crosses chasms, rafts rivers and mounts mountains into a wacky world where sound mutinies.  Kid Simple is filled with live sound effects, rebellious onomatopoeia, and a host of woodsy temptations.

JUST TWO MORE WEEKENDS! Kid Simple runs at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through October 27 at the Liminis, 2438 Scranton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44113.  Tickets are $15 general admission, $12 for seniors(65+) and $10 for students.  For reservations and information visit http://www.convergence-continuum.org or call 216-687-0074.

Kid Simple

KID SIMPLE: A RADIO PLAY IN THE FLESH
OPENS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5 AT CONVERGENCE-CONTINUUM

convergence-continuum continues its 2012 Season with the Cleveland premiere of Kid Simple: a radio play in the flesh by Jordan Harrison. With its whizbang sight and sound gags, sci-fi references, fantastical situations and characters, general loopiness and sheer fun, Kid Simple is a treat for the imagination and intellect.

Moll, a girl who invents things, wins the science fair with a machine for hearing sounds that can't be heard. But when a shapeshifting Mercenary steals the invention (and her heart), she must embark on a quest to save noise as we know it.  Accompanied by the last boy-virgin in the eleventh grade, Moll crosses chasms and rafts rivers into a world where sound is always more than what meets the ear. Kid Simple is a quirky fable of innocence and experience, featuring live sound effects, mutinous onomatopoeia, and a host of woodsy temptations.

Kid Simple is directed by converge-continuum company member Geoffrey Hoffman and features actors Jaclyn Cifranic, Clint Elston, Robert Hawkes, Tom Kondilas, Layla Schwartz, Laura Starnik, and Foley artists Lisa Wiley and sade wolfkitten.

Kid Simple opens Friday, October 5 and runs at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through October 27 at the Liminis, 2438 Scranton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44113.  Tickets are $15 general admission, $12 for seniors (65+) and $10 for students.  For reservations and information visit http://www.convergence-continuum.org or call 216-687-0074.

Review of Con-Con's "MilkMilkLemonade"

Con-Con's 'MilkMilkLemonade' hits and misses with abandon

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 8/24/12

 

True to its purpose—to offer theater that "expands the imagination and extends the conventional boundaries of language, structure, space, and performance"--Convergence-Continuum is staging a highly entertaining, thought-provoking play about being true to one's purpose.

 

Joshua Conkel's "MilkMilkLemonade," which first appeared off-off Broadway in 2009, tells the tale of an 11-year old boy named Emory who lives on a poultry farm with his Bible-thumping, cancer-ridden grandmother.  Emory thinks of himself as being more of a girl than a boy and, ostracized by his classmates, spends most of his time with a giant talking chicken, a Barbie doll, and an abusive neighbor named Elliot whose rough-housing masks his homosexual leanings and self-loathing.  All are portrayed by adults.

 

The innocent, effeminate Emory simply wants to be true to his nature while those around him deny their own.  He is content choreographing elaborate ribbon dances, dreaming about performing show tunes on a TV talent contest, and wishing he was a girl in body as well as in spirit.  Emory's Nanna could not be less Christian or nurturing as she strives to keep him on the straight and narrow.  Linda the chicken seeks asylum from being turned into McNuggets.  Elliot denies the good within him by stealing Emory's innocence between bouts of pyromania.  

 

Like the children's rhyme referenced in the play's title, whose lilting melody gives way to a sophomoric laundry list of base bodily functions, Conkel's "MilkMilkLemonade" is told with a children's storybook aesthetic while exploring much darker themes. 

 

Because this outrageous play is jam-packed with clever one-liners and assorted bits of absurdity—including the chicken doing stand-up comedy ala Andrew Dice Clay and the doll lip-syncing to the 1970's self-discovery anthem "I've Never Been to Me"—this Con-Con production merrily bypasses "MilkMilkLemonade's" deeper meaning and lapses into broad comedy.

 

By accentuating all that is funny, and there is plenty that is funny, director Cory Moiner provides a very entertaining evening that loses touch with what is meant to be thought-provoking.  His primary vehicle for doing this is Zac Hudak, whose portrayal of Emory is as free range as the poultry on his farm.  Possessing Pee-wee Hermanesque man-child charm, quirky physicality and mischievous undercurrent, Hudak turns dark comedy into sight gags and the play's underlying poignancy into unabashed playfulness.

 

His wonderful fellow actors—including Sarah Kunckik as Linda the Chicken, Marcia Mandell as Nanna, Brian Devers as Elliot, and the hilarious Lisa Wiley as the terrified narrator, Elliot's reabsorbed fetal twin, and other odd characters—follow suit.  So, too, does Clyde Simon's sound and set design, resulting in a campy, fun romp void of texture. 

 

In spite of itself, there are moments in this production when the playwright's sober intentions seep through.  The best example is when Emory and Elliot play house.  Things turn intriguingly revealing when Elliot, as husband, sucks on a Colt 45 malt liquor and, in a world-weary voice beyond his years, complains about his day.  Emory, as wife, wistfully watches the bug zapper on the front porch and says, "Funny how I always root for the moths."

 

Like moths drawn to the flame, neither Emory nor anyone else in this play can overcome their destiny or true purpose.  This is true even in a production that has turned Conkel's play into something it is not.

The 80-minute one-act "MilkMilkLemonade" continues through September 8 at the Liminis Theatre in historic Tremont.  For tickets, which range from $10 to $15, call 216-687-0074 or visit www.convergence-continuum.org.

 

K5 Specs (Ep 1-2): A Mass Effect radio drama

K5 Specs (Ep 1-1): A Mass Effect radio drama